Another Requiem
by pilvi
Summary: Let us focus on Tiedoll's disciples for a change. There's the notorious Kanda, the soccer-fanatic Daisya and the comparatively decent Marie. Add to that a brand new female exorcist. Will she survive under Kanda's withering glare?
1. Good News

**Summary: **Let us focus on Tiedoll's disciples for a change. There's the notorious Kanda, the soccer-fanatic Daisya and the comparatively decent (though blind) Marie. Add to that a brand new female exorcist. Will she survive under Kanda's withering glare? We'll see. OCfic- Possibly future KandaOC.

**Disclaimer: **I own my OC and this here story. The rest belongs to Hoshino.

The time setting of this story is approximately 8 months before Allen Walker enters the Order.

* * *

**Another Requiem**

**I: Good News**

Yes, Switzerland was absolutely beautiful at this time of year- green hills as far as the eye could see, beautiful snow-capped mountains all around, and wild flowers blooming in all their colorful glory- but none of this managed to cheer him up.

Then again, Kanda was never exactly cheerful to begin with. His expression didn't change in sunshine or rain, and the prospect of meeting his all-too-friendly general actually added an extra angle to his already furrowed eyebrows.

Happy woodland creatures stopped in their tracks and hurriedly retreated to safety at the sight of this mood-killing exorcist. Even the wild flowers seemed to droop, though that may have had something to do with the fact that he had carelessly stepped on them as he passed by.

For once there was no Finder to guide his way and/or tremble in his presence. Kanda had been about to return to headquarters after a mission when he had received a message from General Tiedoll, ordering him to come and meet him near Altdorf- supposedly a small village in the Central Alps. To get there was quite a bother, seeing that there were no train stations nearby.

Kanda had _not_ become an exorcist just to go hiking all over Switzerland. Needless to say, he wasn't particularly pleased with the general's instructions. At least his next assignment was nearby.

Just as the disgruntled exorcist arrived at the top of another hill and gave an unsatisfied huff at the sight of, oh joy, more hills, something in his gut told him that someone was near. Sure enough, his eyes soon fixed upon a certain area of grass somewhere to his left.

An old man was perched on top of a flat boulder, leisurely sketching the scenery around him, no doubt. But what really caused Kanda's sharp eyes to twitch was the sight of the three figures sprawled on the grass around said boulder. Two of them were easily identified as Noise Marie and Daisya Barry, also disciples of General Tiedoll, but the third was unfamiliar.

Not only was this figure cloaked and hooded, but also partially obscured by the aforementioned Marie, who happened to be quite large. They all seemed to be enjoying a nice chat- either that or they were all napping. In any case, Kanda was not impressed.

* * *

_2 months earlier…_

The green hills of Appenzell were covered by a lining of trees that wove around and throughout the village. A small abbey inhabited the middle of the sunny valley, where most of the houses were gathered. The sound of children playing merrily could be heard over the occasional mooing of satisfied cows grazing nearby, and General Tiedoll found himself captured by this scenery as he attempted to replicate it on a piece of paper.

Just as he was sketching the little children, he looked up to see that they were all running towards the forest, squealing in delight. A figure on horseback had arrived, stopping just in time to avoid overrunning all the excited children. A delighted smile appeared on Tiedoll's face as he identified the figure to be a nun- the robes and veil made it rather obvious. It was wonderful to see a servant of God so loved by the village children.

A chorus of "Sister Eva! Sister Eva!" convinced the nun-in-training to get off her horse and be assaulted by hugs and kisses. She laughed at the all too enthusiastic welcome as she was literally dragged along towards the village. The scene was soon captured in Tiedoll's drawing.

"_AIIEEEEE!!!!_"

The bespectacled general hurriedly put away his drawing tools at the sound of a scream- followed by the unmistakable noise of an akuma. It came from the direction of the abbey. He hadn't expected anything to happen here- all those children!

"Alright kids, you know the drill! To the cellar!" someone was shouting as Tiedoll arrived in the center of the village. Sure enough, a level 1 akuma was wreaking havoc as the villagers took cover- most of them running into the abbey, while the rest locked themselves in their houses. A nun- presumably the one he had seen earlier- was ushering a group of children towards the abbey, but the akuma had already seen them. It looked like they weren't going to make it in time.

General Tiedoll had already pulled out his crucifix and chisel- but a curious sight stopped him from invocating his innocence. The nun-in-training, seeing that the akuma was targeting her and the children, held up what looked like some sort of pendant- and suddenly, a shield of light was formed as the akuma fired.

"What're you waiting for? Get in there!" she yelled before the dust clouds had time to settle, and the children were heard scurrying into the abbey. The shield of light was gone but in its stead, the young woman held a double-sided halberd which she practically rammed into the akuma that had approached within arms length.

It exploded a split second later, leaving behind a rather sad looking nun and several destroyed walls. She sighed. Head Sister Adelheid was definitely not going to be happy about her tattered robes and veil.

"And I didn't even have to do anything! Well done," came a voice from behind her, causing her to flinch in surprise. Luckily her weapon had returned to its original form, or she might have accidentally skewered someone.

"Eh? Who- what- how-" the young nun began at the sight of the old man smiling warmly. His expression did not match all the visible destruction around him. Was he some sort of architect, here to sap them off their money under the pretense of rebuilding their homes?

"May I ask what that is you are holding?" the man asked, pointing unnecessarily at her hand that was closed into a fist. Sister Eva blinked a few times, eyeing his cloak and what looked like his art supplies- he seemed pretty harmless. She unfolded her hand to reveal a small, round locket with a rather complicated Celtic knot design.

Of course he couldn't have witnessed this small object turning into a seven-foot-long (and rather heavy) medieval weapon. If others found out, they would think it was some sort of devilish magic- and the fact that she was a nun-in-training would only make things worse. This thought caused her to close her hand and hide it in her robes. The old man still had that gentle smile.

"I see," he said, just as the villagers began to emerge from their homes, and the flock of children burst from the abbey to run towards the young nun.

"Sister Eva, are you okay?"

"You're all dirty, are you hurt?"

"I was so scared! Weren't you?"

"Did you kill it? Did you kill it, Sister Eva?"

"Why do these monsters keep appearing?"

General Tiedoll raised his eyebrows at the last thing he heard from the otherwise incoherent babble of questions that Sister Eva was expected to answer. She nodded and shrugged several times, though it all got a bit confusing and she resorted to shushing them with a rather frightening glare.

"I _don't_ know where these things are coming from- however," she smiled encouragingly at the scared little faces around her, "Know that as long as God is with us, we need not fear a thing."

General Tiedoll was faced with a slight dilemma. He was sure that this young woman would make a fine exorcist if trained properly- but what would happen to these poor children? Before he could think any further however, another nun appeared on the scene- this one a lot older.

"Sister Evangeline, look at you! That's the third robe you've ruined this month!" The younger nun cringed at the scolding that followed, and the children quickly dispersed, fearing the wrath of Head Sister Adelheid.

"Trust me Head Sister, I did _not_ enjoy the explosion that caused this." Adelheid was about to reply to that when Tiedoll finally decided to step in. He had been ignored long enough.

"Excuse me Sisters, I have to ask- have these 'monsters' appeared before?"

* * *

"So they're called _akuma_, and only a certain group of people who call themselves _exorcists_ can destroy them?"

Tea was being served to the bespectacled stranger in the Head Sister's office. Only Sister Adelheid and Eva were present, the other Sisters having been sent to help the villagers repair what damage was done.

"Yes," replied Tiedoll, "and Sister Eva seems to be one of them."

There was a moment of silence in which Sister Adelheid shot a half-hearted glare at the nun-in-training. Head Sister Adelheid had a strange way of showing her affection.

"That locket you have," the old man continued, "that is your _innocence_."

Sister Eva raised an eyebrow at this, seriously doubting that the small accessory in her hands could be the embodiment of her moral purity. If it was, it seemed awfully tiny…

It took a while to explain the whole ordeal, and by the end of it all, Sister Adelheid actually looked a bit worried. Then again, knowing that these monsters that had been appearing so often could cause people to die rather instantly _was_ a bit unsettling, to say the least. The village of Appenzell had been very lucky indeed not to have had any serious injuries- though there had been a case where a family had almost been caved in (only to be rescued by the rest of the village within the hour).

"And the reason these demons keep appearing is because of her 'innocence'?" the Head Sister asked, eyeing the pewter locket with an accusatory glare.

"That seems to be the case, yes," the old man confirmed as gently as he could.

"But I've had this locket for years! Why would they decide to show up _now_?" Eva wasn't very receptive of the idea of destroying the one thing she owned- which Sister Adelheid was no doubt suggesting with that piercing gaze of hers.

"Perhaps it lay dormant until recently," Tiedoll suggested, having thought this over before, "In any case, destroying it is not an option."

Sister Adelheid was obviously disappointed, though Eva gave a small sigh of relief. But wait, what did this mean? If destroying the locket wasn't the answer, would she have to give it away instead? She didn't like the idea of that either.

"Well, it looks like you must join the Black Order, Sister Eva," was the solution General Tiedoll suggested. The two Sisters frowned at the name.

"The _Black Order_? Sounds rather ominous, doesn't it?"

"Young people these days… They come up with the strangest names." They muttered amongst themselves, ignoring the exorcist seated in front of them. He watched them with a warm smile, sipping his tea contently.

"But who will take care of the children?" Sister Eva asked in an undertone after they had exchanged more than enough comments about the current situation.

"Sister Nadine should be able to-"

"I thought she was allergic to children," the young woman put in, obviously hoping to prove that her presence in Appenzell was crucial.

"No dear, she was joking." Apparently, it wasn't.

"Oh, but maybe the children are allergic to _her-_" she tried again before Sister Adelheid cut her off.

"Sister Eva, if it comes down to it, _I_ will take care of the children."

The young nun-in-training gave a dramatic gasp before hiding her fake tears. Sister Adelheid was not impressed. Her expression made it clear that Eva's fate was decided. After eight years of living in the Alps, she would have to leave behind all that was dear to her- namely the orphans she had been taking care of for so long- and embark on some sort of epic journey to destroy all evil.

"What about my vows? I can't just leave the abbey-" Yes, she was getting a bit tired of the evergreen scenery around her, but that didn't mean that she was ready to take off so abruptly.

"Eva, you haven't _taken_ your vows yet. You're only a sister in training. In other words, you are not obligated to stay here." The Head Sister pointed out rather promptly. Eva frowned. She had hoped that that minor detail would be overlooked.

* * *

_Back to the present…_

"There you are, Yuu-kun," was the general's warm welcome as the young exorcist approached the scene. 'Yuu-kun' narrowed his eyes in disgust at the sound of his name- it didn't matter how many times he insisted on being called 'Kanda'. People like General Tiedoll simply didn't listen- one reason why Kanda disliked him so much.

"Who would have thought he'd be the last one to show up?" was Daisya's input on the younger exorcist's supposedly late arrival. He was promptly ignored. Marie simply nodded in greeting as Tiedoll eyed his own sketch with satisfaction before fully turning his attention to his youngest disciple.

"Yuu-kun," Kanda's eyes twitched in anger, "I'd like you to meet my new disciple," said the general, smiling warmly and gesturing towards the figure next to Marie. Only then did Kanda realize that it was a young woman hidden beneath the cloak. She had stood up and pulled back her hood only slightly to reveal her face.

"This is Evangeline, our newest exorcist. I found her myself," the general stated complacently, apparently proud of the fact that he had discovered someone compatible with innocence. The Black Order hadn't found any new exorcists for a while now, so he had every right to be satisfied with himself. Again, Kanda was not impressed.

"You can call me Eva," the young woman finally spoke with a slight curtsy. Kanda eyed her with his characteristic scowl. Her soft gaze and warm but playful smile reminded him of only one thing- Tiedoll.

"General Tiedoll has told me so much about you, _Yuu-kun_."

He hated her already.

**-to be continued-**

* * *

**A/N:** A halberd looks like a combination of a long battle axe and a spear/lance. It is designed for both stabbing and slashing, and Eva's weapon, being double-sided, can be used to swing both right and left. The bottom of her halberd also ends in a short but sharp… point, used mainly for painful poking.

I don't know too much about nuns and titles- so go easy on me. The title 'Head Sister' probably doesn't exist...

The name Evangeline actually means 'good news', hence the chapter title. The next chapter will also be a combination of the past (Eva leaving her home) and present (bothering Kanda). Hopefully the time skips won't be too confusing.

Hope I got you interested- a few nice reviews would be very encouraging! Review and I will update fast.


	2. The Bleat from the Forest

**Another Requiem **

**II: The Bleat from the Forest **

"It's '_Kanda'_," the young exorcist told her through gritted teeth, though his rather obvious annoyance did not seem to faze her. Another vein became visible on Kanda's temple as he watched the woman completely ignore his glare. This is why he hated newcomers- they were always so confident and needlessly happy. He could only hope that this one wouldn't last.

"I'm sure you'll get along just fine. Think of her as your sister," the general told them, obviously quite happy about having found a new member for his little 'family'.

Kanda's expression was far from welcoming. Daisya and Marie, on the other hand, seemed to know all about this new exorcist already. _They_ weren't annoyed about the fact that she very much resembled the general in her tone. Then again, they didn't hate Tiedoll for his fatherly manners as much as Kanda did.

"So, now that we're all here," began Daisya, jumping up from his spot on the grass, "why _are_ we all here, old man?"

Tiedoll looked at them through his glasses with his half-open eyes.

"To see you all together, of course."

They stared at him.

A shadow fell across Kanda's already frustrated expression, Daisya grimaced, Marie felt a sweat bead running down the back of his head, and even Eva's smile was replaced by a deadpan look. They all hoped he was joking, though they knew very well that having a 'family reunion' was enough reason for the general to have them climb all over the Alps.

Kanda was about ready to unsheathe his Mugen when Tiedoll chuckled and assured them that it was all for the best.

"I heard you all had missions in Switzerland, so I thought we might as well have a little gathering," was his excuse, though his disciples did not seem very pleased- mainly because they could have met up in _town_, where they wouldn't have had to waste so much time trying to locate him 'somewhere near Altdorf'.

A few moments of silence passed by as the four exorcists eyed their general warily- or in Kanda's case, with disdain. Once again, Daisya was the first to speak.

"Fine then," he said, deeming their 'gathering' to be over. He was getting bored. "Marie and I are headed to Zurich. We should get _going_." The way he said the last part heavily implied that they had lost too much time already because of a certain somebody. Tiedoll didn't seem to notice.

"Eva, you off to headquarters?" Daisya continued, having been on a mission with her in France just recently. Kanda and Marie weren't exactly talkative, so he considered this new addition to be quite welcome. Eva shook her head.

"I'm supposed to meet another exorcist down in Stans," she replied, and noticing the rather violent twitch of Kanda's eye, added, "and judging by that reaction, it must be Yuu-kun."

Daisya didn't know whether to feel sorry for the new girl or the disgruntled samurai. He decided to go with the latter. The most Kanda could do to her was to cause severe physical injury- Eva, however, could probably drive the poor guy _insane_ with her impression of General Tiedoll.

"Che," was all she got out of him for now- along with a threatening look, obviously caused by her usage of his first name.

"Wonderful!" the general piped in, patting Kanda on the shoulder and earning himself another glare, "You two can get to know each other."

Yuu-kun did _not_ approve.

* * *

_Again, 2 months earlier…_

"You wait and see- those children aren't just going to let me leave like this!" the young woman protested as Head Sister Adelheid literally pushed her past the abbey gates. A day had passed since the arrival of Froi Tiedoll, and that was more than enough time for Eva to get ready to leave, according to the stern Sister Adelheid.

The young woman's belongings, nothing more than extra clothes, had been folded neatly into an old suitcase which was now sitting innocently just outside the abbey. Evidently Sister Adelheid had already prepared everything for Eva's departure. General Tiedoll had told her that he would be waiting near the forest while she said her goodbyes, though it seemed as though the Head Sister refused to give her the time for that.

"No really, where _are_ Boris, Martin, Petra, Silvia, Gunter, Gabi and Anton?" the former nun-in-training asked frantically, fearing that this woman really wasn't going to let her see the orphans one last time. Not to mention the village children.

"They're with Sister Nadine," was the simple answer as the Head Sister forced the suitcase on her. Eva reacted by putting on the most pitiful expression ever seen by the eyes of the older woman, whose lips became a thin line. She had become immune to the girl's wide variety of faces over the years.

"They'll be here to wave you off," Sister Adelheid assured her anyway, Eva having resorted to communicating her sorrow by walking straight into a wall. Those words got her moving again, though the corners of the young woman's mouth were still significantly droopy. Before they could reach the outer portion of the village however, the aforementioned children had arrived.

Eva prepared herself for an assault of '_why are you going_'s and '_don't leave us_'s along with a lot of pulling and clinging, but it never came. Instead they happily declared their farewells and well-wishes while hanging on to a rather nervous Sister Nadine, who seemed to have become their new favorite. _Why those treacherous little-_

Her disappointment was interrupted by an impatient Sister Adelheid who proceeded to adjust Eva's cloak (which had replaced her nun's robes), turn the young woman by her shoulders, and give her a push towards the forest where Tiedoll could be seen waiting.

"Now go on," Sister Adelheid said in a surprisingly gentle tone.

"But I-" a bewildered Eva began, only to be cut off by Sister Nadine, who was usually so quiet.

"I'll watch after the children, so don't worry."

"But what about-" she tried again, hoping to get a decent goodbye out of _somebody_.

"_Go!_" the two Sisters insisted.

"_Fine! _No need to shout," the disgruntled exorcist-to-be muttered, turning on her heel and stomping down the path towards her general. "Looks like they couldn't _wait_ to get rid of me."

"Guess again," the old man said gently, nodding towards the village as she approached.

Eva blinked back a few tears of disappointment before turning around- only to let the waterworks run freely at the sight she faced. All of the villagers had gathered and were watching her leave, sobbing goodbyes and waving white handkerchiefs. The orphans appeared to be wailing while Sister Nadine held them back, and even Head Sister Adelheid was blowing her nose on the handkerchief she had been waving.

"_Goodbye Appenzell_!" Eva called once she had composed herself. Now that she had gotten a decent farewell, she was finally ready to depart. Turning back to her new master, her face faltered at the sight of his pitiful expression. Apparently all the crying was contagious.

* * *

"Shouldn't I be… training?" she asked, watching Tiedoll sketch the Alps for the _umpteenth_ _time_ that day. It had been impressive the first few times, but was quickly getting a wee bit repetitive. Apparently he couldn't get enough of the fabulous scenery.

"Hmm? Oh yes, of course," he said, as if he had just remembered her presence. "Can you invocate your innocence for me?"

"You mean turn this into a weapon?" Eva asked, having pulled out her old pewter locket.

She did so at his nod, careful not to impale her own foot as she stuck her halberd into the ground for the general to observe. It was good that Eva was anything but short- otherwise she would have looked ridiculous with such a tall weapon. Then again, it certainly didn't suit her to begin with. Any Order member looking at her would have expected her innocence to be a lot more… girly, what with her soft brown eyes and gentle features. Not to mention her _golden_ hair.

"And it turns into some sort of shield as well?" Tiedoll asked, remembering the scene from the day before.

"Only when I'm about to die, apparently," she told him, several attempts at recreating the shield having failed already. The general eyed the innocence thoughtfully.

"It is very strange for an equipment-type innocence to turn itself into a weapon like this," he informed his new disciple, "Usually it needs to be crafted into one first."

They stood in silence for a while as Tiedoll examined the weapon some more. Eva had nothing to say- _she_ had no idea why her locket had one day decided to turn into a double-sided halberd. Though admittedly, it did look pretty darn awesome. She couldn't think of a weapon she would prefer, quite frankly.

"Have you named it yet?" The question brought her out of her reverie, though she had to repeat the general's words in her mind before they made any sense.

"No," she answered slowly, tilting her head to the side, "Though now that you mention it…"

* * *

_Back to the present…_

"_Siegfried_?" he repeated, confused, irritated and wishing he could get rid of his hearing for a while.

Kanda did not remember how they even got to this topic. Heck, why was he even talking to her? They had been walking along the shore of a huge lake in silence- having left General Tiedoll to his drawings and the other two exorcists to start in the opposite direction- but apparently this woman had somehow engaged him in a conversation before he had the time to ignore it.

"That is the _worst_ name for a weapon I have ever heard," he sneered. As much as he hated the idea of conversing with this sad excuse for an exorcist, he felt the need to express his utter disgust at her naming skills.

"Well, _Harbinger of Death and Destruction to All that is Evil _sounded a bit silly," was her gentle response, "and long."

He pitied the innocence that had foolishly decided to synchronize with this woman.

"What's the name of yours then?" she asked as if challenging him to beat 'Siegfried', though her tone remained composed. He wondered whether he should ignore her.

"Mugen," he replied anyway, deciding to ignore her _after _giving her the name of his own anti-akuma weapon- which was obviously a whole lot better than _Siegfried_.

Eva had no idea what meaning lay behind the name _Mugen_, so it did not impress her as much as it might have. _Siegfried_ was clearly a combination of 'victory' and 'peace'- a perfect name for a halberd like hers. And it sounded _manly_, unlike _Mugen- _which just sounded Asian.

"A sword called Mugen," she mused as they entered a forest.

Kanda had his eyes narrowed again, just waiting for her to say something worthy of physical injury. Or at least another threat. Wait, he didn't need a _reason_ to threaten her! Her mere presence was enough to make his eyes twitch- but he had lost his timing. Holding a blade to her throat _now_- when she actually had her mouth shut- would just be a waste of time. Time that had already been lost due to a certain idiotic general.

Meanwhile, Eva gave herself an imaginary pat on the back. From what she had heard from Daisya, this exorcist should have 1) killed her, 2) reduced her to tears, or 3) abandoned her by now, but it seemed as though she had played her cards just right. She was, after all, still in one piece, a relatively good mood, and in his company. She had even managed to exchange a few words with him without being sliced open. Score!

* * *

Stans was another town in the Central Alps, right by Lake Lucerne and smack-dab in the middle of Switzerland. Eva had once visited these parts years ago on her way to Sarnen, which lay a few miles ahead. Most towns in the Central Alps were familiar to her- after all, she had lived in this area for most of her life. She told this to an uninterested Kanda- who simply ignored her- as they reached the town.

The Finders they were supposed to meet were nowhere in sight, so Eva took to asking the nearest townsperson.

"Excuse me," she called, "have you by any chance seen some strange men in white robes walking around?"

Kanda stood off to one side as the young woman interrogated a few more passersby. He would have abandoned her right away if he had known where to go. _Those cursed Finders_, he thought, miffed at the fact that the only interpreter available was the new recruit. Well, he certainly wouldn't recognize her as an _exorcist_ until she proved herself to be useful- _more_ useful than to the extent of being able to translate Swiss German into English.

He turned his attention back to her, wondering what the heck was taking so long. It looked as though she was being strangled by a wrinkly old lady. Good.

Wait, what?

"Do _NOT_ go there- you'll be killed, _KILLED_ I tell you!" the old woman was screaming, clutching the front of Eva's cloak and shaking her wildly.

"_Yes_, I understand. You've been repeating that for the last minute," replied the poor girl, trying her best to gently pull away from the old lady's surprisingly strong grasp. Said old lady suddenly let go before shuffling off and leaving behind a disheveled and confused exorcist.

"I warned you!" was the last they heard of her before the old woman disappeared into the village. Eva stared after her, mouth slightly open at the strange warning (or threat) she had just received.

"Oi." Kanda's annoyed voice brought her out of the state of temporary shock.

"Well," she began, adjusting her hood so that it covered her head more neatly, "it looks like our Finders went off to investigate a certain pasture nearby. They say that people and cattle have gone missing there, and according to that lady just now, there's a lot of _killing_ involved."

* * *

They found their way to the pasture in question with the aid of a simple but surprisingly accurate map, which a friendly old farmer had drawn for them. Again they received a warning to stay away from the place, which was now considered haunted. They were thrown off by how peaceful and scenic it actually was as they reached it.

"Really doesn't look like the scene of death and destruction, does it," Eva muttered, sounding slightly disappointed.

"Is _this_ it?" Kanda asked, silently agreeing with her and furrowing his eyebrows.

"I'm quite sure, but there's nothing-" she began to answer, pausing at the unmistakable bleat of a goat. They turned towards the sound-

"Whoa!"

-and were forced to jump away from where they had been standing at the attack of an akuma, which seemed to have emerged from the forest nearby.

"I didn't know akuma sounded like goats!" Eva yelped, narrowly dodging a shower of virus-infested bullets. Kanda had already unsheathed his sword.

"They _don't_," he informed her before slicing the level one in half. It irked him to see that _her_ weapon was still nowhere to be seen.

"For your information," the more experienced exorcist began, eyeing her with obvious dislike, "do _not _assume that I will rush to your side when you are in danger- if I judge that you are interfering with the mission, I _will_ let you die."

Eva was impressed. She had never witnessed him talk for more than three seconds at a time. Then again, she had only known him for a day.

"Fair enough," she said lightly, spying a few more akuma emerging from the forest, "here they come."

Kanda had had just about enough of this woman and her infuriatingly careless attitude. Luckily he wouldn't have to deal with her now, seeing that the sudden appearance of a horde of akuma would keep him occupied for at least a few minutes. Brandishing his Mugen, he immediately took care of several level ones with one strike. In the few seconds of time this gave him, he looked back to see how the new recruit was doing.

She seemed to be doing pretty well, actually. The anti-akuma weapon she had lovingly dubbed _Siegfried_ was quite impressive in its size and destructive power- and thus did not suit her at all. The slashing and hacking movements she used were anything but elegant, though obviously effective as she annihilated akuma left and right.

Another second of checking on her and he would have fallen prey to an attack from behind. Kanda was however, too skillful and experienced to be surprised by such an assault. Overall, it took them about three minutes to wipe out all the level ones. The sun was starting to set.

"Hmm, isn't there usually another one that's smarter?" Eva voiced when no more akuma seemed to be turning up.

Her halberd then turned back into the small locket attached to the chain wrapped around her wrist. Kanda couldn't help blinking in mild wonder. He hadn't thought about the fact that her weapon seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, and here was the rather strange explanation.

"It must be in there," he said coolly, turning his head towards the forest.

"Heading into a dark, akuma-infested forest at sunset," the female exorcist mused, seemingly intrigued by the obvious danger, "What a great idea. Let's go!"

Unable to think of any other option that would allow them to finish the mission faster, Kanda followed, dimly wondering whether she was being sarcastic or just plain weird.

Either way, he couldn't wait for this mission to be over.

**-to be continued-**

* * *

**A/N:** I bothered to distinguish _Swiss German_ because it simply isn't the same as standard German. Oh, and though the anime is very vague about languages (while the manga addresses the issue), I assume that the exorcists communicate in English, while the Finders are the ones who translate for them wherever they go.

Is it that bad? Review? Anyone? Please?


	3. Parrots and Hedge Clippers

**Another Requiem **

**III: Parrots and Hedge Clippers**

_Once again, around 2 months ago…_

"Ah..."

The general and his newest disciple stared after the eagle that had just swooped down and stolen the stick of charcoal that Tiedoll had been drawing with. They watched the bird land by its nest, which was perched high above them on the ledge of a rocky cliff.

"That was odd," Eva commented, turning her gaze towards her general- who was eyeing his unfinished sketch sadly. Somehow, she could sense what was coming. He gave her a wistful, rather pitiful look.

"You're suggesting that _I_ go up there?" she asked, frowning slightly. General Tiedoll simply smiled. Eva grimaced.

"Why should I climb all the way up this cliff just for a stick of charcoal that that eagle obviously mistook for food to feed its young- meaning that the baby eagles will soon be poisoned by consuming the aforementioned object, thus leading to their untimely deaths and causing a sudden drop in the population of Alpine eagles which means that, by the end of the century, they may be extinct." Her eyes widened in horror.

"I'll _do it!_"

Fueled by her made-up, ominous prediction, the young woman threw herself at the stone wall and began to scramble her way up the near-vertical slope. General Tiedoll watched her for a while before pulling out another stick of charcoal and finishing his drawing happily.

"I've got it! I've-_AAAIIEEE_!"

The sound of metal against rock. A thud. And Eva was back on the ground, a long gash visible on the rock wall above her where her halberd had kept her from the full impact of the fall. Ignoring the pain that had not been fully avoided, she held up the stick of charcoal triumphantly.

Tiedoll thanked her as she picked herself up and approached him with the retrieved object- only to see that this obviously wasn't the only stick of charcoal he had in store, rendering the many bruises forming on her back utterly unnecessary.

"_General!_"

He smiled sheepishly.

"That was some good training, don't you think?"

* * *

_The present_

Eva sighed at the memory of her past two months of 'training'. She had been fooled into climbing cliffs, rolling down hills, carrying several goats, running along for miles, and other unnecessary things, though she had to admit that it was all worthwhile in the end. She was, after all, now a lot more useful with her halberd, the use of which not only required stamina but also a very prominent amount of speed _and_ flexibility.

Sometimes she dreamed about how easy it would be to fight akuma with some sort of firearm, but considering her terrible aim, the weapon she had now was probably more effective.

Kanda, of course, was concentrating on completing this mission, but the size of this forest they were wandering in really wasn't helping. It seemed to be getting darker by the minute, too. Needless to say, the sword-wielding exorcist was anything but pleased. If he could only get his hands on that level two that was bound to be hiding somewhere…

He paused, realizing that he couldn't hear the other exorcist's footsteps behind him. Sure enough, she was nowhere to be seen. Kanda's eye twitched in frustration. He was just about to call out when-

"Over here!"

He gave a huff and proceeded to follow the sound of her voice.

* * *

Eva snapped out of her reverie when she nearly walked into a tree. Shaking her head slightly, she turned to Kanda- who was gone. She really should have listened to Daisya when he had told her about the young exorcist's tendency to abandon people. She thought about holding onto the boy's long ponytail next time so she wouldn't be left behind.

Yeah, because _that_ wasn't going to get her killed.

"Hello?" she called into the dark, dark forest, hoping that her companion was still nearby.

There was no answer. Only then did she notice that it was eerily quiet. It seemed as though an akuma was nearby- an akuma capable of scheming and hiding, no doubt. She gulped, invocating her innocence and getting ready to defend her dear life.

"I know you're out there," the young woman muttered, backing into a tree and nervously scanning her surroundings.

The alarms in her head were going haywire- she knew she was being watched, and yet she still couldn't see anything moving. Turning around, she came face to face with the tree she had been leaning against.

"Oh _great_-"

* * *

Kanda stopped in his tracks. He had just heard some kind of crash, though it sounded like it was pretty far back. Something dawned upon him.

"Come on, this way!"

He heard Eva's voice again, but this time, refused to follow.

"Why did you stop? Let's go!"

He narrowed his eyes, his hand on Mugen's hilt.

"What's wrong?"

As soon as he heard the voice again, he charged in its direction. His sword came in contact with something solid- an akuma shaped like a deformed parrot. He only managed to cut off one of its arms (or wings), however.

"Hee hee hee! How'd you figure it out? I mimicked your little friend's voice perfectly!" it squawked in a completely different and akuma-like voice, fluttering away from the exorcist.

"You never said my name," Kanda answered coolly, though he did feel a bit foolish for not noticing earlier. He had been following the disembodied voice for quite some time, after all.

"Stupid exorcist- I still managed to separate you! The pretty lady is _doomed_," the akuma spoke in Kanda's voice this time, sounding awfully confident.

"Che," was the last thing it heard before being sliced in two and exploding into nonexistence. Compared to its extraordinary ability, it certainly didn't put up much of a fight.

He could only assume that there was another level two out there, targeting that woman. The thought didn't particularly brighten his mood- he would now have to go back and take care of _that_ one as well.

_Stupid woman_, he thought scornfully as he quickly retraced his steps, ignoring the fact that he was the one who had practically abandoned her.

* * *

It was a tree alright- a scary, bloodthirsty akuma tree. Though it wasn't much taller than her, it happened to have what looked like huge hedge clippers as arms.

Eva groaned, picking herself up from where she had been thrown. Her enemy was definitely stronger than she was- after all, she was still just a woman. All the training she had gone through seemed so insignificant now…

"_Scared_, missy?" the akuma taunted her with glee, snipping its hedge clippers threateningly, "How would you like me to _kill _you?"

"How about _not at all_?" she muttered before taking a deep breath. Perhaps if she could think clearly, she could come up with a plan- but the akuma gave her no time for that.

"I would love to play with you, but I have to kill you quickly!" it roared, lunging at her with its giant scissor-like arms.

Eva ducked just in time, and quickly thrust her weapon into the monster from under its grasp before rolling away. To her horror, there was no explosion.

"Heh, you think you can kill me with this _stick_?" the akuma growled, ripping the so-called 'stick' from its body and discarding it on the ground carelessly.

"It's a halberd!" Eva stated defensively, throwing caution to the wind. Now that her _Siegfried_ was out of reach, she was pretty much doomed anyway. In her defense, a gaping hole in the middle was usually enough to destroy most akuma.

"An exorcist without a weapon is just a pathetic human," the level two jeered, which somehow reminded her of Kanda.

_Yes of course, Kanda!_ Eva thought with a sudden flash of hope. He wouldn't _really_ leave her to die, would he? Then again…She thought back to how he had eyed her so disdainfully.

Never mind, she was doomed.

"Do you prefer to be decapitated or cut into little pieces?" the akuma asked nastily, backing the young woman into a rock wall that she hadn't noticed before. They had a short staring contest before she answered.

"Well, if you _insist_," Eva began, straightening up and putting on a business-like manner, "here's what you do."

And with that she began to list off a very specific and rather gory set of instructions for her killer-to-be. The akuma was obviously a bit taken aback by her unexpected reaction.

"-and then you can go ahead and cut off some of my hair if you'd like, though it does look perfectly fine right now. _Then_ you gather all the pieces in one bloody heap and set it on fire. Or you could eat it- I don't want my cut up body on display all over the forest."

This was the end of her three-minute speech, which she concluded with a twisted smile. She had evidently read far too many gruesome horror stories.

"You-! You mock me!" the akuma sputtered, unnerved by the creepy change on the saintly face of the exorcist. Of course, its simple solution to this strange case was- "_Die!_"

Eva yelped, suddenly not so confident anymore, but her body had already jerked aside, narrowly avoiding the hedge clippers of doom. She dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way once more, having caught a glimpse of a long, black ponytail.

"Wha-! AARGH!"

* * *

Kanda had arrived on the scene unnoticed, just as Eva was wrapping up her ominous how-I'd-like-to-be-killed speech. The samurai had wrinkled his nose in disgust at what he heard, suddenly a bit unsure of his hearing. Then he had spotted her weapon deserted off to the side.

_How pathetic_.

Then again she _was,_ at least, still alive.

Just as the akuma began to attack the unarmed exorcist, Kanda had charged, immediately slicing the tree-like monster in half. It exploded with a frustrated roar, once again proving that being sliced in half really didn't affect one's voice.

He quickly looked around for Eva, who seemed to have disappeared- but there she was, kneeling on the ground and affectionately clutching her weapon.

"Oh Siegfried, I'll never let go of you like that ever again!" she cried dramatically, holding her face against the flat part of the blades. Before she could accidentally cut herself, the weapon turned back into a locket. Kanda gave her a nasty look.

"_Idiot_," he muttered, just loud enough for her to hear. She looked up at him gratefully. Aside from the scratches and dusty cloak, she seemed unharmed.

"Oh but Yuu-kun, you came for me!" the young woman pointed out happily, a sudden rush of gratitude and trust warming her heart. "I'm _touched_," she added, her eyes sparkling merrily. Kanda's eye twitched.

"I told you _not_ to rely on me," he snarled, giving her his best glare. She did not seem to mind very much, obviously still overwhelmingly grateful for his timely appearance.

"Well, I _didn't_," she told him pleasantly, dusting off her cloak, "but you saved me anyway!"

"Che."

Right. He really couldn't argue with that, so he just started walking off. Eva followed closely.

"At least now I know that I have to train a whole lot more," she said thoughtfully, "is there some sort of training area at headquarters?"

Kanda didn't answer right away- something had just occurred to him.

"You've never been to headquarters?" he asked, shooting her a slightly incredulous, mostly cool glance.

"Nope. I was with General Tiedoll for over a month, and then I went on some missions here and in France," the young woman replied amiably.

That explained why she was clad in a simple cotton dress and traveler's cloak instead of a uniform. Well, even though she was infuriatingly careless and a bit pathetic, he had to admit that wanting to train was a good idea on her part.

"Yes," he said, "there is a training area."

"Good," was her satisfied response, "And Yuu-kun?"

"_Don't_ call me that."

"Can I hold onto your hair so I don't get lost again?"

"_NO."_

* * *

It was already quite late when they finally emerged from the dark, dark forest onto the supposedly haunted pasture. Even at night the scenery was glorious as the moon shone brightly on the grass. Just then Eva remembered something.

"Hold on, the Finders!" she exclaimed, having completely forgotten about them until now. Kanda shook his head.

"Oh. I guess you're right," she mumbled, knowing that if they hadn't come across them by now, it must mean that they were already…

"Let's go."

Kanda's words got her moving again, though she gave the forest one last wistful look. They had been walking for a while when they suddenly heard someone- their weapons were drawn instantly.

"Exorcists!"

"We found you!"

Two men appeared from a side path, obviously very happy to see them. Though they looked a bit exhausted, there was no mistaking those white robes. The exorcists put away their weapons.

"Finders!" Eva called, welcoming them with a warm smile, "But wait, we heard you two had gone off to investigate-"

"Yeah," one of the Finders- a young man with a square chin- began sheepishly, "we were _going_ to, but we got a bit lost."

"Or completely lost," the other added, this one a bit older and bearded, "we ended up in another _town_, but we tried to get back as soon as we could!"

"Che."

* * *

It turned out that the two Finders had misread a crudely drawn map that an old lady in Stans had offered them. They introduced themselves as Karl and Elias, though Kanda didn't seem the least bit interested. Eva was happy to make up for his lack of sociality as they got back to Stans together.

"I wonder if Daisya and Marie are done with their mission," she mused over a late night snack.

She and Kanda were now seated at a table in an old inn while the Finders had already excused themselves to their room. The friendly innkeeper had provided the exorcists with some food, ignoring the fact that it was already quite late. Kanda didn't answer her, wanting to leave her and go to his own room as soon as possible.

So he simply got up and left when he had finished his food. Eva did not follow, planning to take care of the dishes before going to her room.

"Sleep well, _Yuu-kun_!" she called, causing a vein to pop out on the young man's temple. Her tone had sounded uncannily like that of Tiedoll's just then.

Next time, he was _so_ letting her get killed.

**-to be continued-**

* * *

**A/N:** Many, many thanks to **FMAandWolf'sRain **and **Blooberii **for reviewing! Reviews make me very happy, and I'm glad you two like my story so far! Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

Please, please review if you like how this is going!


	4. A Boring Train Ride

**Another Requiem**

**IV: A Boring Train Ride**

"Is that all of them?"

Daisya stood there, balancing his Charity Bell on one foot as Marie adjusted his headphones, listening carefully.

"Sounds like it," he answered, at which they began to head back to town.

The two had been exterminating the rather large number of level one akuma near the sea of Zurich. Having been lucky enough to catch a ride on a carriage headed in the same direction, they had arrived at the place a lot sooner than expected, and were thus done with their mission by sunset.

"You think Eva's still alive?" Daisya wondered out loud as they made their way to the nearby town of Zug.

"With Kanda? I'm not too sure," the older exorcist answered, rather amused by the image of the disgruntled Japanese trying _not_ to kill the new recruit.

When Marie, who didn't have the privilege of eyesight, had heard Eva's voice for the first time, he had known that a certain pony-tailed exorcist wasn't going to like her very much. The playfulness and warmth in her tone and the way she treated everyone like a younger sibling very much resembled a certain general. A certain general that Kanda was known to hate.

Daisya certainly wasn't about to complain. Anyone capable of teasing the notorious samurai (without getting killed) was a welcome addition to 'Team Tiedoll'. _Some_one had to convince that Kanda to loosen up.

* * *

Morning came and only brought more annoyances to the ever unsatisfied Kanda. Having secretly hoped that he had been dreaming all along and that there never had been a new exorcist to bother him, he was severely disappointed when he stepped outside the inn. There she was, chatting merrily with the two Finders, ready to leave, and undoubtedly in a good mood.

"Good Morning, _Yuu-kun_!" came the expected (but certainly not welcome) greeting. Kanda narrowed his eyes at her.

"I told you to stop calling me that," he stated oh-so-coolly, apparently failing to make an impression. Eva only smiled.

The Finders observed the two exorcists rather nervously- _they_ had certainly heard all about the cold-hearted Kanda, and were now afraid for their new friend's well-being. She may be a few years older than the dark-haired Japanese, but that really didn't guarantee anything.

"Err, well," began Elias, the older Finder, "Karl and I will escort you down to Lucerne so you can catch the early noon train. We'd better hurry."

The Finders however, were surprised to find that the exorcists walked a lot faster than they had imagined. Obviously they had expected it from Kanda, but Eva's stamina was thoroughly underestimated. Everything about her gave the impression of a dainty lady, after all.

"Try single-handedly taking care of seven energetic children for a few years," was her simple explanation. It certainly gained her more respect from the Finders, though Kanda did not seem impressed. Then again, it was hard to tell whether he was actually listening.

* * *

Many roads led to Lucerne, which was why it had such an impressive train station. It had trains leaving and arriving from several directions, but it still managed to keep a nice, orderly appearance. Not that Kanda cared to notice. He just wanted their train to arrive quickly.

Eva had the decency to say a proper farewell to the Finders who had been ordered to investigate some other town, and was therefore left behind by the impatient Kanda who could only hope that she would miss the train.

"Che."

He had been waiting at the station for nearly a quarter of an hour when he suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"Oi, Kanda!" Daisya called as he approached, followed by Marie. The two had arrived in Lucerne that morning, and were now waiting for the same train. They both seemed to be eyeing him disapprovingly. Kanda raised an eyebrow.

"Where's Eva?" Marie asked mildly- apparently he couldn't detect her heartbeat with his headphones. He was the one who had found Kanda by picking up that characteristic 'che' of his.

"What'd you do, kill her?" Daisya questioned, his eyebrows raised at the taller but younger exorcist.

Kanda only gave another 'che', since he didn't know where that woman was. She really should have caught up by now.

"There she is." Marie smiled slightly, nodding in a certain direction.

* * *

After having said her goodbyes to the two Finders, Eva had headed straight to the train station where she expected to find the other exorcist. On her way however, she happened to have come across a small boy who had lost his mother in a crowded area. Unable to ignore her maternal instincts, she had then proceeded to help the boy by lifting him on her shoulders and aiding him in finding his parent.

"Goodbye Miss!" the boy waved after her in the arms of his thankful mother. Eva waved back with a wistful smile before hurrying off to find Kanda. She only hoped that the train hadn't left already. She had no idea how to get to headquarters on her own, after all.

"Sorry I took so long, there was a lost child-" she called as soon as she spotted the uniform and ponytail, "Oh!" only to be surprised by the presence of two more exorcists.

"Hey, you survived!" Daisya exclaimed with a lopsided grin, giving her a thumbs up. She mimicked the gesture with a radiant smile. Kanda's eye twitched at the cheerfulness of it all.

"Daisya and Marie! What a delightful surprise," Eva voiced pleasantly, suddenly very glad to see them. The prospect of having to sit in a train alone with Kanda had been a bit daunting, really.

"Seems as though we're all heading to headquarters- isn't _that_ a coincidence," Daisya said, confirming her hopes of them traveling together. Marie simply nodded, though the way he could actually hear her happiness made him smile.

"And here's our train. Aren't we lucky today," the young woman spoke just as the train to Bern came chugging down the tracks.

* * *

Though she had been on a train as an exorcist several times now, the sheer size and luxury of a first class compartment never ceased to impress Eva. It was hard to believe that only two months ago she had thought horseback riding to be quite extravagant. Being a nun-in-training in the middle of the Central Alps rarely required any faster transportation, after all.

Furthermore- two months ago, Eva never would have imagined that she would ever be traveling in a first class compartment with three men. Two of them were younger than her, but still.

Sometimes she was convinced that she would wake up soon and find that all this had just been a bizarre, long dream. Except that the many, many bruises she had received during the last few weeks continually reminded her that no, the existence of akuma and her destiny as an exorcist were indeed reality.

"So you ever been to England?" Daisya was asking just as she finished her inner musing. The four of them were now seated comfortably in the large compartment as the train passed the usual Swiss scenery.

"No," Eva answered dreamily, her gaze fixed on the window, "I don't think I ever traveled outside the country before I met General Tiedoll."

"You've lived in the Alps all your life then?" Daisya continued. He was seated opposite her.

"As far as I can remember, yes," she told him softly, still looking out at the passing landscape. Daisya seemed a bit surprised at her answer.

"Then why is your English so good?" he questioned her, blinking in mild confusion. Eva finally turned her head to look at him.

"I thought I might as well learn it," she replied with a wistful smile, "since I was already required to study Latin as a nun. Besides, there are so many English books in the libraries-"

She paused when she detected a sort of dumbfounded silence. Marie seemed to be looking at her in surprise while Daisya had his mouth open in awe. Even Kanda, who had been pretending to sleep, was suddenly eyeing her coolly. Eva blinked.

"Wait, you were, or are, a _nun_?" Daisya finally asked after a few more moments of silence.

"I never told you about that?" she responded, rather surprised at their reactions. Now that she thought about it, she had never really mentioned her previous status as a nun-in-training. She chuckled.

"Well, I was still _training_ to become a nun. It would have taken me a few more years to actually become one officially," the young woman explained, her eyes twinkling merrily at the sight of their confused expressions.

Daisya was quite taken aback at this surprising piece of information. Then again, it did explain a lot about her. The way she always had her head covered, the way her posture was always very correct, her simple clothing, and the gentle way she talked all made sense now. He couldn't believe that he hadn't known about this earlier.

When Daisya had first met Eva, he had been busy introducing himself and warning her about the horror that was Kanda. Thinking back, it was no surprise that she never got to mention much about her past. She already seemed so familiar, but there was obviously a lot about her that they did not know.

"Is there a problem with that?" Eva asked mildly, observing the other exorcists.

"Not at all," Marie answered gently.

He himself was now quite sure that this girl would set a good example for the two younger exorcists. Daisya was quite mischievous and Kanda a bit antisocial in his opinion. Perhaps this new addition would smoothen some of the rough edges in their team. He also wondered whether he would be able to discuss literature with her. The other two certainly did not possess the level of learning to be able to do such things- not that Daisya was patient enough or Kanda sufficiently talkative in the first place.

"What does a nun-in-training do, exactly?" Daisya wondered out loud once he understood how he had not known about this matter beforehand.

"That depends," Eva replied, smiling at his sudden interest, "I was in charge of taking care of the orphans, so that's what I did most of the time."

"That's all?" the younger exorcist retorted, as if slightly disappointed. He was under the impression that nuns had some sort of impossibly complicated schedule to work with.

"Seven children are quite a handful, you know," she told him, "I played with them, taught them, nursed them, put up with them…" Eva trailed off, smiling wistfully at the many memories that were blossoming in her head.

"I miss those kids," she muttered after a while, gazing out the window once more. Kanda was pretending to sleep again. Marie simply listened. Daisya felt the need to cheer her up.

"Maybe the next new exorcist will be a kid for you to take care of," he suggested, though he knew that it was very feeble consolation. Nevertheless, Eva smiled and nodded.

"That might be interesting."

* * *

The train reached France before sunset and was scheduled to arrive in Dijon soon after. It grew dark earlier than expected however, due to the sudden fall of heavy rain.

Daisya had pretty much given up on finding anything interesting to do after searching through the entire train and coming across nothing but equally bored passengers. Kanda had actually dozed off in his seat after all that pretending, while Marie and Eva were quietly discussing classic literature. Which explained why Daisya was so bored in the first place.

"Are you sure there isn't anything _exciting_ to talk about?" he muttered as he re-entered the compartment reluctantly, having just returned from his fruitless search.

"We could talk about ways to wake _him_ up," Eva suggested amiably, nodding towards the sleeping samurai. Daisya had to grin at the many, many ideas that came to mind as he stood near Kanda.

"Or we could discuss the many things we could do to him _without_ waking h-_whoa_!" the last part of his sentence came out as some sort of yelp which was drowned out by a very loud screech and the force of the train coming to a sudden halt.

The result was four exorcists practically plastered to one side of the compartment.

Daisya, who had been standing in the space between Marie and the now rudely awakened Kanda, was stuck between the two larger exorcists, Marie having been thrown on them by the sudden stop. To her relief, Eva only landed in Daisya's empty seat, narrowly avoiding being part of the exorcist sandwich.

"_Get off!_" came a muffled and very angry growl.

"I would, but Marie's squashing me," Daisya's equally muffled voice replied from the mass of limbs.

"…Sorry you two," Marie muttered as he managed to get back to his seat, picking up an irritated Daisya from an even more irritated Kanda in the process.

Having been thrown face-first into an upholstered wall, Eva was too busy rubbing her aching nose to laugh at the scene. She did however, let out a halfhearted chuckle.

"Who would have guessed that Marie had the best seat?" she mumbled, referring to the fact that the rather large man's fall had been cushioned by two exorcists.

Kanda glared at her, as if challenging her to try and point out who had chosen the worst seat. He did however make a mental note of never sitting across from Marie in a train ever again.

"Wait, so why did we stop?" Daisya wondered out loud, already standing by the window, though all he could see was rain.

"It's the rain," Marie told them, listening in on a conversation outside their compartment with his handy dandy headphones, "the ground has turned into mud up ahead, so the train tracks aren't safe."

They all looked at him with varying degrees of exasperation and despair. Eva really didn't know what this meant, so she was the least annoyed.

"Even if the rain stops soon, we could be stuck here for hours," Marie added, just to clear it up for the blinking Eva.

"Oh," she responded simply. This was why she preferred to travel on horseback.

"Oh great," Daisya grumbled, looking forward to a lot more boredom as he sat down with a huff.

"Che," was all Kanda had to contribute. He had his arms and legs crossed and was glaring holes into the wall. Anything group-related had that effect on him, though he did prefer not having to deal with that woman. Having Daisya and Marie talk to her meant that she wouldn't be annoying _him_ all the time.

It would have been a very peaceful albeit boring few hours of helpless waiting, but no. It was raining heavily and it was dark. A train full of people was stranded in the middle of nowhere. This could only lead to one thing…

"Marie?" They all looked at the large exorcist who seemed to be listening intently through his headphones.

"Please tell me you hear something interesting," Daisya commented, pretty sure that the situation couldn't possibly get any more boring. Marie simply nodded, getting up from his seat.

"Akuma."

**-to be continued-**

* * *

**A/N:** Right so… nothing happened in this chapter… BUT STILL. That just means the next chapter will be more interesting.

I have only recently found out that Daisya is actually 19, according to a translation of the official DGM profiles. I always thought he was in his early twenties. Weird.

These profiles also revealed some very interesting information on our exorcists- like their level of education. Kanda and Daisya both have a 2 out of 5, while Marie has a 4. On that scale, Eva would also have a 4.

Speaking of profiles, I just put one up of Eva in my devart account. You can find a link in my profile.

**PLEASE REVIEW **AND LET ME KNOW that people_ are_ actually reading this. That would be encouraging.


	5. Stuck

**Another Requiem**

**V: Stuck**

"Here we go."

Daisya and Kanda had already climbed onto the roof and were now taking care of the akuma problem outside while Marie and Eva attempted to restore some order in the train.

As soon as the explosions had started, the previously bored passengers had turned _berserk_. There were screaming ladies, crying children, panicking gentlemen, and very nervous conductors running to and fro. Eva had to feel sorry for Marie and his acute hearing.

"No honestly, calm down everyone. Screaming really isn't going to help," she called out in French and then again in German. It sounded rather unsympathetic in both languages.

Her words did however seem to have a surprising effect on the scared passengers- the volume was decreased significantly. Though that may have been because the screaming ladies had just fainted.

"There seems to be a level two out there," Marie muttered, listening to the akuma outside. The train shook with the amount of exploding going on. Luckily however, only the tops of a few vehicles had received any damage so far.

Eva had several bawling children clinging desperately to her skirt. Their mothers had probably just fainted.

"I guess we should join them then," she replied, carefully prying off the tearful youngsters and handing them to one of the conductors.

It still took the two exorcists a bit more time to wade through the crowd of anxious passengers and get to the nearest exit- not before commanding the personnel to not let anyone out of the train, of course. Only the suicidal people had attempted get outside, seeing that there were explosions going on all around.

* * *

Though it was still pouring outside with akuma surrounding them, Eva could not help feeling a bit relieved when she and Marie finally managed to escape from the clutches of the panicking masses. As much as she liked children, there really wasn't much she could do with dozens of hysterically sobbing ones.

"Oh dear." She let out a small whistle as soon as they were outside and on the roof.

"I know, a lot more than we expected, huh?" Daisya commented in between kicking his innocence around.

"No, I meant that I can't see anything in this rain," Eva muttered in response, though no one seemed to be listening to her anymore.

The other exorcists were having no trouble identifying their targets according to the continuous akuma destruction all around. Eva just sort of skipped around, holding her weapon close and trying not to get shot or fall off the train. The rain made all this very difficult.

"Why did I come up here? I'm not helping," she pointed out to no one in particular, helplessly watching the edge of a vehicle disintegrate.

Jumping away from the hole, she somehow managed to collide right into Kanda, who had been chasing the very elusive level two down the entire length of the train and back. Needless to say, he was already quite annoyed. The rain wasn't helping either.

"Get out of my way!" he barked at her, having miraculously regained his footing very quickly. Eva was clinging to his arm for balance, her halberd swinging dangerously close to his head. She had to yell to be heard through the thunderous sound of rain and an akuma being destroyed by Daisya somewhere down the train.

"Sorry Yuu-kun, I- whoa!" she yelped, pausing mid-sentence to pull the younger exorcist aside and block an attack from the level two with her own innocence. The akuma he had been chasing had snuck up behind them, ready to chop them in half with its axe-like wing things.

"Che."

Kanda was never going to admit that this woman had just saved him from a whole lot of pain. Luckily the other exorcists hadn't seen that- or at least, he hoped they hadn't. That would just be embarrassing.

Snapping out of his temporary daze, the pony-tailed samurai quickly took the chance and swung his Mugen at the level two. Eva had somehow managed to hold it off with a surprising amount of strength, though her arms felt like they were about to fall off from all the strain.

Kanda's attack came just in time, and she involuntarily chose that moment to slip and fall off the train. At least she managed to avoid the explosion that way.

* * *

Marie had partnered up with Daisya a while ago, paralyzing the rest of the level ones with his innocence while Daisya took care of them with a few well aimed shots. Just as the last one was blown into pieces, they had been able to witness Eva practically shoving an annoyed Kanda out of the way to parry an attack from the level two.

Daisya had actually let out a snort of laughter at the scene, happy that he now had something to tease Kanda with. Marie had smiled a bit, having figured out what must have happened by the sound of that 'che'. He then felt the need to confirm that there were no more akuma around, so he took Daisya with him to patrol along the length of the train.

* * *

As soon as the axe-winged akuma was gone, Kanda shot a glare at the spot he expected that woman to be- only to blink in confusion upon realizing that she was nowhere to be seen. He looked around for any sign of that noticeably large weapon of hers, but no glint of bright metal gave away her location. At least the rain had gone down to a light drizzle.

"Yuu-kun!"

His eye twitched at the call that came from somewhere in the darkness that surrounded the train. He was just about to ignore it and leave to find Marie when he heard more.

"I know you can hear me! I need help."

The already irritated exorcist groaned inwardly, turning on his heel and walking to the edge of the vehicle he was on. Looking down he could spot Eva standing there close to the side of the train, the light from within illuminating her smiling face. It didn't look like there was anything wrong.

"My feet are stuck in the mud," she told him as soon as she could see his annoyed expression, "could you pull me up?"

With that she held out the pointy end of _Siegfried_, careful not to poke the other exorcist's eye out. To her relief her weapon was long enough to reach Kanda, who hesitated before grabbing the pole arm. He had considered just leaving her there before remembering that she had sort of just saved him from being chopped in half moments before. Maybe helping her onto the train would make them even.

Some of the passengers were staring out at Eva through the windows. She managed to give them a reassuring smile before being pulled out of the surprisingly sticky mud and back onto the roof.

"Thank you dear," she said pleasantly, giving him a pat on the shoulder once she was safely standing next to him.

Kanda considered pushing her off the train again. Instead he simply 'che'd and turned away to go and find the others. He didn't need to however, since they were already approaching.

"That's all of them," Daisya called once he was close enough to be heard, "And what happened to _you_?" he had to ask at the sight of Eva.

Her boots and the hem of her cloak were covered in mud, though the now light rain was steadily washing it away- leaving a trail of brownish water to run along the roof of the train where she stood.

"I slipped and fell off," the young woman explained matter-of-factly, acting as if this was something she was used to doing. It wasn't, really. She was just acting. Kanda was already walking away down the train towards the first-class section.

Daisya raised one eyebrow- and then the other, when he noticed the mud handprint slowly being washed off by the rain on Kanda's shoulder. He looked over at Eva, who was gathering rainwater in her cupped hands.

She grinned sheepishly.

* * *

Soon enough they were back inside the train, Eva being left with the task of calming down the flustered personnel while the other three returned to the first-class compartment. There were a few holes in the roofs of some of the vehicles, but nothing too major.

As soon as they were assured that there were no more 'exploding monsters' outside, the more courageous conductors climbed on the roof to do something about the holes, while others walked along the tracks to check if they weren't damaged. It was soon announced that the train would be on its way shortly. Apparently the tracks were safe enough, now that the rain had died down to a soft drizzle.

"What's taking Eva so long?" Daisya asked when the woman in question had not returned to their compartment for nearly an hour. The train was already on its way to Dijon.

Their cloaks had effectively kept the heavy rain away from their clothes underneath, so there was no need to get changed. They had only taken off their uniform cloaks and hung them in an empty compartment to dry. Daisya and Marie were seated comfortably while Kanda was pretending to sleep again.

"She may have been detained by a group of needy children," Marie answered simply.

* * *

Eva had somehow ended up with another crowd of children flocking around her. At least she had managed to take off and hang up her soaked and heavy cloak- her dress was only slightly damp. Her boots however, were leaving muddy footprints everywhere, though nobody seemed to mind. The passengers were all too busy calming down and assuring each other that they weren't going to die just yet.

"There there, dearies," she was saying, ruffling the hair of the two youngest children wrapped around her waist.

There were now around a dozen youngsters fighting for her attention while she made her way through the train, trying to return them to their respective families. Apparently the fact that she seemed so calm and in control made her a natural magnet for panicking children, though it may have had largely to do with her being one of the only women still conscious.

Evidently these children had been playing near the first-class area of the train when the attacks had started. Since running back to their parents required leaving the vehicle, they had been stuck there during that frightening half hour.

"That's my Mama!" one of the children yelled as soon as they reached the next compartment, tugging on Eva's sleeve as if shouting wasn't enough. It did not take much longer for the rest of the kids to find their parents, and there was much crying and rejoicing as the now conscious and nervous mothers were reunited with their darlings.

"No really, there's no need to thank me," Eva muttered to herself when she was ignored yet again by a flailing mother and her child (who had, just seconds ago, been clinging to _her_).

Perhaps one day she would have her own children to mollycoddle. Her fellow exorcists were far too old for such treatment after all, though the thought of fussing over that stoic Kanda was quite amusing. Eva could understand why Tiedoll was so fond of the Japanese. There was an odd sense of accomplishment that went with ignoring Kanda's cold demeanor and watching him twitch at being treated like a child.

When she finally returned to the first class vehicles, the female exorcist had to go past a compartment that contained a small group of extravagantly dressed French ladies who were chattering excitedly about something. Eva stopped dead in her tracks when she overheard their loud conversation through the door.

"Oh but he was so handsome- the way he rushed into danger without hesitation!" one of the ladies was saying, fanning herself blissfully. The others sighed dreamily in response.

"He looked Asian, didn't he? Mondieu, and that _hair_!"

Eva chuckled. Deep down inside, she agreed with them.

* * *

The rain had stopped, but it was well past bedtime for the children when the train finally arrived in Dijon. The sleepy old man behind the ticket window rubbed his eyes before staring out at the sudden flood of people on the station. Shaking his head, he pulled down the shutters and went back to his nap. He was obviously dreaming.

A soft tap on the glass made him frown. He tried to ignore it, but it wouldn't stop, so he opened the shutters hesitantly. A hooded young woman greeted him with a polite smile.

"Excuse me, monsieur. Could you tell us when the next train to Calais or Paris is leaving?"

The ticket seller blinked at her before eyeing the almost empty station behind her. He couldn't seem to decide whether he was still dreaming or not.

"Well, mademoiselle," he began, scratching his head and shooting glances at the three men in black cloaks standing nearby, "the train tracks are being checked this week, so there won't be another train heading out for at least three more days."

"I see. Thank you very much," she said after a bit of speechless blinking.

The old man stared after her as she joined those three suspicious looking men. He suddenly felt quite sorry for her, having caught sight of a particularly harsh look that she received from one of the men. He clicked his tongue disapprovingly before pulling down the shutters once more. Young people these days- always in a hurry.

**-to be continued-**

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**A/N****:** Reviews make me happy. Tell me this, are my chapters too long?


	6. Vacation

**Another Requiem**

**VI: Vacation**

"Hello, Black Order Headquarters?"

"Yes, who's this?"

"This is Eva, General Tiedoll's new disciple. Sorry to bother you so early but-"

"Oh yes, yes! Miss Evangeline! How delightful- we've heard so much about you from the general! You know it's been years since we've had another female exorcist join us and I'm sure my dear sister will be_ so_ happy to have-"

Eva blinked, slowly removing the receiver from her ear and holding it at arm's length in reaction to the steadily increasing volume of the excited babbling. Even the little golem that was connecting the phone line seemed to flutter a few inches away. Marie had already adjusted his headphones accordingly.

It was the morning after the eventful train ride. Luckily Dijon was a pretty large city and thus had plenty of room for all the passengers that were stranded for the night. Long lines had stood in front of virtually every working phone at the time- apparently they all needed to inform their relatives that they had almost died on a train.

So obviously the exorcists had decided to wait until morning to report the whole ordeal to headquarters. Not that Kanda or Daisya had had any part in said decision making. They had already left to go to their rooms, leaving Marie and Eva to discuss the issue. That explained why these two were the only ones present to make said phone call to headquarters first thing in the morning.

"Do you know who this is?" Eva whispered, still holding the phone some distance away from her ear. The babbling would not stop. Or even decrease in volume.

Marie nodded. The voice of Supervisor Komui was simply unmistakable.

"I warned you," the older exorcist muttered.

Eva had insisted on trying out the 'golem phone' because she found it so fascinating. She had seen it used once before by a Finder and had been looking forward to trying it out herself one day. Marie gladly gave her the chance, but not without fair warning. He had anticipated something like this.

"Supervisor, why are you on the phone? You should be-"

"Oh go away Reever, this is an important call."

"Sounds like you're just rambling."

"It's _important_ rambling."

"When is rambling ever important?"

Eva was now listening attentively to the conversation going on at the other end of the line. She was in awe—and counting to see just how long she, the _caller_, would be ignored.

"Three minutes and counting," she quietly informed Marie after said time had passed. They continued to listen to the very strange dialogue going on at headquarters until, quite suddenly, it came to an end.

"It's the new exorcist, okay?"

"Oh. You've been ignoring her all this time?"

"What? I-"

A moment of silence. Eva smiled at the golem fluttering next to her, once again putting a safe distance between her ear and the receiver.

"Hello? HELLO? I'm _so_ sorry, I was distracted by a lazy subordinate- go drink some coffee or something Reever- sorry, where was I?"

"Actually, I was about to report something," Eva replied, and quickly explained the situation before some other lazy subordinate could cause another three minute delay.

* * *

"I see. So Team Tiedoll is stuck in Dijon for the time being." The supervisor summarized after Eva's report, sipping his coffee thoughtfully.

"Not necessarily. There _are_ other ways to travel-"

"Oh no no no no, I have an idea! Why don't you all just take three days off? It'll be like… a short vacation. Eat nice food. Buy pretty things. Enjoy yourselves! I hear France is very nice at this time of year and-"

On and on he went. Eva had stopped listening halfway through.

"I didn't know exorcists got vacations," she was telling Marie as she held the phone far away once again. He shrugged.

"I guess we do."

* * *

"_No._"

Kanda narrowed his eyes at the other exorcists who were eyeing him with varying degrees of amusement. In Daisya's case it was more like exasperation.

"What do you mean, _no_?" he asked, frowning slightly at the Japanese, "How could you say _no_ to a vacation in France? Besides, it's not like we have much of a choice."

Marie and Eva nodded in agreement. Kanda scowled.

This was just like something Tiedoll would force them to do. The fact that the general had had no part in this situation only annoyed him more. It was like he, Kanda, was under some sort of curse which forced him into group-oriented activities all the time- and that curse was obviously caused by someone named Tiedoll.

"It'll be fun, Yuu-kun," Eva cooed, causing the boy's eyes to twitch, "I hear Dijon is a great place for tourists."

She was obviously quite happy about all this. Kanda wasn't.

"Then again, what are we going to do for _three_ whole days?" Daisya put in, hoping that there was something interesting going on in the city. A _boring_ vacation was not particularly welcome.

"Eat nice food, buy pretty things and enjoy ourselves," Eva quoted, though obviously Marie was the only one who got her reference. Daisya raised an eyebrow.

Marie and Eva were soon left alone when Kanda simply walked out on them and Daisya offered to go and make sure that the youngest exorcist wouldn't get into any trouble. Of course, he hoped that there _would_ be some sort of trouble- Kanda was usually quite good at finding (or causing) it.

"So no family vacation?" Eva voiced with a halfhearted sigh, "How disappointing."

* * *

Dijon was home to numerous breathtaking cathedrals and churches, not to mention the many museums. A paradise for tourists and photographers, the city dubbed itself a great center of art.

Needless to say, Daisya was pretty much bored to tears. And Kanda was apparently searching for some isolated alley to sulk in.

The rain from the previous night had washed away any traces of clouds in the now beautifully blue sky, but as always, this did nothing to cheer up these two exorcists. It was obviously too much to ask for some akuma-induced action in broad daylight in the middle of a crowded city.

"Three days of this?" Daisya muttered, grimacing at the painfully bright sunlight that shone upon the busy streets. Their black cloaks were getting increasingly warmer as they failed to find a shaded area to retreat to.

"Che," was all Kanda had to say, unwilling to admit that he had no idea how to get back to the inn. Perhaps if he just kept walking he would somehow find himself far, far away from anyone bothersome. Namely anyone _blonde_ and bothersome.

Except that that described most of Dijon's population.

"Oy Kanda, watch ou-" Daisya called in a futile attempt to keep the Japanese from walking into a group of tough-looking French tourists who happened to be in a foul mood for missing the last train the night before.

Not that their demeanors could match the withering glare they received from Kanda, who obviously blamed them for failing to get out of his way in time. Unfortunately, they were incapable of recognizing danger when it was standing right in front of them.

"Watch where you're going, you sissy-looking boy!" one of the men snarled mockingly, his friends chuckling in delight.

They would have received much more than the beating that ensued if Kanda had actually been able to translate what they had said.

* * *

Meanwhile, Marie and Eva had been remarkably efficient in touring the city. They had managed to visit most of the cathedrals and swing by the more interesting museums while attending several choir performances and the like, as only two French-speaking exorcists with an interest in the arts could.

They themselves were quite impressed with their speed as they found themselves in front of the last prominent tourist attraction just after lunch. The Notre-Dame de Dijon towered before them as Eva began to describe the architecture in great detail to Marie, who couldn't exactly go sightseeing.

This was how the day had gone—with Eva attempting to visualize everything in a never-ending flood of words, and Marie listening in quiet awe and mild amusement.

Her vigor in playing the tour guide had been a bit overwhelming at first, seeing that he wasn't particularly used to being talked to so incessantly, but he had learned to simply go with the flow and enjoy her vivid imagery while it lasted. After all, when would they ever be able to tour a city like this again?

"Now where's that owl?" the blonde muttered as they walked along the side of the cathedral.

She was searching for a small carving of an owl somewhere on the outside of the cathedral—it was practically Dijon's mascot. Rubbing the owl with your left hand was supposed to cause good luck. Not that Eva believed in such touristy gossip, but the owner of the inn who had supplied this information had made it sound altogether too tempting.

"Hold on," Marie suddenly muttered, having overheard a rather strange exchange of words through his headphones. The two paused in their tracks.

"What is it?" Eva asked, looking around for any sign of trouble. No akuma seemed to be in sight, but she did notice a small group of extravagantly dressed French ladies chatting excitedly up ahead, their high-pitched giggling becoming more painfully audible as they approached.

They seemed oddly familiar.

Marie sighed. Eva blinked. The women were now within earshot.

"And when he just walked away, did you see how composed he looked? Not a hair out of place!" one of them was squealing, the others agreeing with dreamy sighs.

"I never thought we'd see him again! That ponytail of his… it's just so- so elegant!" another exclaimed, swinging her little lace parasol merrily as they passed the two exorcists, who were completely ignored.

Eva couldn't help mimicking their shrill voices as soon as the ladies turned a corner.

"That ponytail of his!" she repeated, grinning broadly at the silliness they had just witnessed and remembering where she had heard those same voices before. They had been fawning over Kanda in the train the day before, and were apparently doing the exact same thing now.

"You don't want to hear what else they said," Marie told her as they stood there, gazing after those frilly dresses which he fortunately could not actually see.

"Yuu-kun has been flaunting his pretty hair around town, I suppose?" Eva suggested, her grin growing wider at the image of the Japanese leaving behind a trail of blissfully fainting women wherever he went.

Marie had to smile a bit at the same thought before answering, "More than that, I'm afraid."

* * *

Daisya had given up on finding anything of interest with Kanda who, after confronting that group of rude tourists had decided to retreat to the inn—the rest of the day was thus dedicated to finding his way back. Leaving the grumpy swordsman alone, Daisya had decided to give touring a chance.

Only to give up on that the minute he stumbled across a certain museum dedicated to mustard.

"_Mustard_? Are you kidding me?" he muttered in disbelief, shaking his head as he turned his back on said museum and entered the busy main streets once more.

He was therefore too busy grumbling to himself to foresee the collision that ensued.

"What the-!" he had exclaimed, now rubbing his already crooked nose where it had come in painful contact with someone's shoulder.

"Look, it's the little one who was with that girly boy!" the owner of the shoulder called out, staring down at the comparatively short Daisya with poorly contained ill intent.

The beating they had received earlier obviously hadn't dampened their resolve to pick a fight everywhere they went.

"Ugh, you again?" the exorcist muttered glumly, eyeing the men with distaste. He wished that he could actually speak French, just to ask them why in the world they kept bumping into people and then saying French things that sounded quite derisive.

After listening to their jeering and knuckle-cracking for a few moments, Daisya decided to give them what they were asking for. Combined with his superb aim and kicking abilities, even a couple of insignificant pebbles on the ground became quite effective weapons.

The group of men shrieked rather pathetically as they were showered with small rocks; they stumbled away immediately- only to crash into a very large something. Or rather, someone. They looked up, caught sight of a rather grim expression and that _same_ uniform, and promptly ran for their lives.

Eva emerged from behind Marie, dusting off her robe were she had also been bumped into just now. She shook her head.

"_Daisya_," Marie called calmly, eyeing the smaller exorcist with mild disapproval. Daisya shrugged sheepishly.

"Kanda started it."

* * *

"Black Order Headquarters?"

"Yes, who's—"

"Team Tiedoll here. Again."

It was evening, and Eva was on the 'golem phone' for the second time that day. Marie was once again standing nearby, except that this time Daisya was also listening in.

"Eh? Oh hello, Miss Eva! How is your vacation going?" It was Reever who had answered the phone this time. Komui was busy pretending not to sleep while the rest of the science department was buried under a never-ending pile of paperwork.

"Well, that's why I called. We want to leave Dijon tomorrow," Eva answered, absentmindedly twisting the phone chord around her finger, much to the annoyance of the little golem that connected the line.

Reever blinked a few times upon hearing this unexpected reply. He could not imagine why anyone would ever want to cut a freely given vacation (an infinitely rare blessing) short. He himself would have killed (preferably a bespectacled, curly haired supervisor) for such an opportunity.

"Why is that?" he thus asked incredulously.

"For the greater good," Eva responded rather solemnly, and that was enough to convince Reever. He had just remembered a certain swordsman with a rotten temper who probably didn't care much for sightseeing.

"Ah. I see," Reever muttered, suddenly feeling quite sorry for the new exorcist, "But I thought there weren't any trains leaving for another two days?"

"Yes, but Montbard is relatively close by and apparently we can catch a train from there," the young woman replied, further explaining that they would be walking to that town in the morning.

Just then the door was pushed open, revealing a disgruntled Kanda who had_ finally_, after hours of wandering around the city, found his way back to the inn.

The three other exorcists all stared at him in silence—even Reever on the other end of the line listened intently, having heard the fairly loud sound of a door through the phone.

Their expressions all displayed varying degrees of awe at the length it had taken the Japanese to return. They had even had dinner without him, none of them particularly worried about his absence.

Kanda's eye twitched in irritation.

"_What_."

"Nothing," Daisya replied, shaking his head innocently. Marie simply looked away while Eva smiled serenely, gazing up at the ceiling.

The youngest exorcist narrowed his eyes at them, shooting one last glare at their newest member before turning on his heel to go to his room.

"We're leaving tomorrow, _Yuu-kun_!" Eva called after him, her voice dripping with sugary-sick sweetness.

The door was slammed shut.

Reever was speechless at what he had just overheard. The young woman on the other end of the line had just sounded exactly like a female version of General Tiedoll. It was astounding… and perhaps a little disturbing.

"Hello?"

"Uh- yeah. So… we'll contact you if anything comes up," Reever said, feeling somehow slightly intimidated by the way she seemed to pretend that nothing had just happened. "Have a safe trip."

* * *

Once Eva had hung up the phone, the three exorcists began to discuss the details of their plans for the next day. Surely Kanda wouldn't mind being excluded—he rarely ever had anything to add anyway.

"You didn't really have to cut this 'vacation' short just because Kanda likes to assault random people," Daisya pointed out, completely ignoring the fact that he himself had done some assaulting as well.

He further explained that this was a very common occurrence when traveling with the Japanese swordsman which, sadly, wasn't particularly hard to believe.

"It's not just that," Eva told him, poking the little black golem thoughtfully, "Marie and I have been to every place worth visiting in Dijon today, so I don't see why we should waste any more time staying here."

Marie nodded in silent agreement.

"And I'm really looking forward to finally arriving at headquarters," the female exorcist added with another serene smile that could simultaneously scare and soothe any observer.

Daisya exchanged rather uncertain looks with Marie who, though blind, was still somehow able to do such things.

"You know it really isn't _that_… great," Daisya said hesitantly. Eva's smile faltered.

"You mean it _isn't_ a Gothic-style black tower with numerous floors mounted on a seemingly endless cliff and surrounded by a dark, gloomy atmosphere?" she questioned, her eyes wide with curiosity.

"Well, no- yes?" Daisya replied, unsure of what it was she wanted to hear.

"That _is_ what it looks like," Marie put in helpfully, not surprised by the incredibly accurate image she had of the Order's headquarters.

Eva's smile returned.

"Oh yes, then I _am_ definitely looking forward to it."

**-to be continued-**

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**A/N****:** Right… so not a lot of action in this chapter… Hope you liked it anyway. The next chapter will finally have them arriving at headquarters... I think.

Thanks for all the nice reviews (keep 'em coming)! I apologize for taking so long.

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